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Whitlock keeps it real

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Whitlock's take on the events from Fox Sports.

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You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

In a society that increasingly supports caged human ****fighting ó aka MMA ó has a proud history with boxing, cheers lustily whenever fights break out inside a hockey rink and builds Roman Empire-stylized coliseums for football games, a 320-pound, sweet-talking lineman has somehow convinced a segment of America that Chiefs fans are the sick and disgusting bad guys.
You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

You damn straight a small percentage of Chiefs fans cheered loudly when two overgrown Ravens knocked Matt Cassel smooth the hell out. Did we not cheer when Mike Tyson curb-stomped Michael Spinks? Google the knockout work that made Anderson Silva the MMAís most beloved star and tell me if you hear respectful silence or wild, joyful hysteria?

We love violence and Eric Winstonís hypocritical *** is wealthy because heís relatively adept at inflicting it. The only thing all that unusual about the smattering of cheers that greeted Casselís glazed-eyed trip to the turf is that his hometown fans gave life to the noise. And for that, you can blame Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, his boss, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, and the escalating cost of being a sports fan in the era of shopping mall-amusement park stadiums.

Sickening? A smattering of cheers for an injured $66 million quarterback with a rating of 66.2 and a league-leading 14 turnovers?

No. No. Whatís sickening is how easily Winston, Kansas Cityís right tackle, deflected the national media from the real story. One of the most passionate fan bases in sports ó Kansas City Chiefs fans ó has been abused so thoroughly the last eight to 10 years that it is turning unruly. What happened Sunday inside Arrowhead Stadium is a result of the Hunt familyís neglect of their fan base. This has been brewing since 1998, since Marty Schottenheimer courageously and justifiably realized he should move on after 10 years in Kansas City. From 1989 to 1998, Schottenheimer and his front-office partner Carl Peterson transformed Arrowhead Stadium from an empty parking lot into one of the coolest, most electric places on earth eight fall Sundays a year. Football Sundays in Kansas City became mini-holidays. The whole town wore red starting on Fridays. Tailgating at Arrowhead Stadium before games was Kansas Cityís No. 1 social activity.

Iíve watched NFL games at every venue. Nothing compared to Arrowhead Stadium during the Schottenheimer era. Nothing. The Chiefs never advanced to the Super Bowl, but Kansas City was the NFLís ground zero. The players, coaches and executives were treated like royalty.

The players, coaches, executives and ownership got spoiled. They didnít have to win it all to be treated as if they had. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game since 1993. Thatís right. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game in two decades. But the stadium was filled, the parking lot packed and Chiefs jerseys hung in seemingly every Kansas City closet so Lamar Hunt, Kansas Cityís Dallas-based owner, allowed Carl Peterson to hang around 10 years after Schottenheimer left, a good five years after it was painfully obvious Petersonís previous success was a result of Schottenheimerís brilliance. Most Chiefs fans concluded Hunt wouldíve never allowed Peterson to linger for a decade if Hunt lived in Kansas City and felt the pain of each disappointing season as personally as Kansas City residents. Kansas Citians attached their identity to their professional football team. Joe Montana, Marcus Allen and Derrick Thomas made the typical, insecure Kansas Citian feel big time.
The stench of Petersonís last 10 years and Lamar Huntís loyalty to Peterson are fueling Chiefs fans lack of patience with their successors, Scott Pioli and Clark Hunt. The situation is further exacerbated by KCís newly renovated stadium and the elevated cost associated with it. Chiefs fans are paying $27 to park, $200 for a club-level seat, $10 for beer and are watching teams with no reasonable shot at postseason success.
For the most part in todayís NFL, no quarterback equals no shot.

Lamar Hunt and Carl Peterson could never pick a quarterback. In 20 years, they never drafted one in the first round. They preferred to sign someone elseís veteran. Given a choice in the 1990s between benching an aloof, inconsistent and expensive Elvis Grbac and going with locker-room/fan favorite Rich Gannon, Hunt and Peterson let Gannon escape to Oakland, where he won a league MVP award, made four Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl appearance. Grbac eventually bounced to Baltimore and quit football. No one, besides Trent Dilfer, remembers Elvis Grbac.

Scott Pioliís first major personnel decision in Kansas City was giving Matt Cassel a franchise-quarterback contract despite his highly suspicious resume. Cassel never played at USC. He played one season at New England. Cassel is Pioliís original sin, the mistake that has haunted his four years in Kansas City. Pioli, the Bill Belichick disciple, saw in Cassel the second coming of Tom Brady. Pioli arrogantly and foolishly thought heíd discovered Brady in a bottle twice. Ha.

This year Cassel has been the worst starting quarterback in football. Heís a turnover machine. He clearly lacks confidence. His arm strength is atrocious. His ball floats up before it moves ahead. He needs to be benched. Pioli wonít allow it.

Before Sundayís game, a group of working-class Chiefs fans pooled their money to fly a banner over Arrowhead Stadium demanding that Hunt fire Pioli and bench Cassel. These people love their football team. Clark Hunt lives in Dallas. The fans are spending their money to get the attention of their absentee owner. Theyíre afraid that Pioli-Hunt is going to be a replica of Peterson-Hunt. Their fears are justified. Pioli is a poor manís Peterson. Pioli is an embarrassingly insecure version of Peterson, a man with a bloated ego. Pioli masks his insecurity with a false bravado, a dictatorís management approach and a constant desire to manipulate the media into believing he was the brains behind the Patriots dynasty.

Chiefs fans arenít having it. They want a real quarterback. They want the Cassel charade to end. Pioliís stubbornness forced a handful of Chiefs fans to spontaneously thank the Ravens for momentarily ending their Matt Cassel nightmare. I think America will survive.
Itís easy for the national media to sit on their couches, inside their television studios or on their free, comfy press-box seats and preach polite decency to the working-class folks paying to watch their hijacked football team.

I wonít do it. I was inside Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday as a Chiefs fan. Iím not the type to boo or cheer. But I want Pioli fired. Eric Winston, too.

Someone had told me that on the telecast, that his wife would help quiz him with que' cards. That actually
Made me feel bad for riding his a** in threads. Guy obviously tried hard but if you don't have what it takes, things need to move on. Hey, he's filthy rich and will survive this. But im sure the ride has been Hell for him.

I hear you....both in this post and the previous one.

No doubt in my mind that Cassel WANTED to be a HUGE success in KC. And no doubt he tried damned hard to be a big success in KC. He moved here. He got involved with the local community. During the strike he reached out to other players in an attempt to be a leader. Matt Cassel is a damned good guy.

People have been calling for his head for a long time. Others (myself included) have stuck by him.

He tried his absolute best but it just didn't work out.

His fault? Management fault? Coaching fault?

I dunno.

What I do know is that it is over for Cassel as a Chief.

It's like when your girlfriend says "Sweetie...I love you BUT...."

Simply put, it is over.

Hopefully the Chiefs and Cassel can part ways on a friendly basis and Matt can find another team willing to give him a chance. Maybe he can be a success somewhere else. But the Matt Cassel as a Chief train has gone off the tracks and it is time to close that book.

No doubt in my mind that Cassel WANTED to be a HUGE success in KC. And no doubt he tried damned hard to be a big success in KC. He moved here. He got involved with the local community. During the strike he reached out to other players in an attempt to be a leader. Matt Cassel is a damned good guy.

People have been calling for his head for a long time. Others (myself included) have stuck by him.

He tried his absolute best but it just didn't work out.

His fault? Management fault? Coaching fault?

I dunno.

What I do know is that it is over for Cassel as a Chief.

It's like when your girlfriend says "Sweetie...I love you BUT...."

Simply put, it is over.

Hopefully the Chiefs and Cassel can part ways on a friendly basis and Matt can find another team willing to give him a chance. Maybe he can be a success somewhere else. But the Matt Cassel as a Chief train has gone off the tracks and it is time to close that book.

Good luck Matt. I for one honestly wish you well....somewhere else.

Yeah, i have been talking trash about him for a couple years now. Hey, i saw it, he is not that good. But seeing how timid he was Sunday, on his throws...it looked like he was so worried his pass would be bad and then it would be...and the team making him handoff 50 unbelievable times, had to be absolutely humiliating. And then to top it off, having to leave the field like that, was tough. I would have to say, that HAD to be one of his worst days ever in his life. I look at it this way. The coaches let him play and upper managemet let him play...so, he played. What is he gonna do? Go sit down on the bench? No, he played and did what he could like he was supposed to. But he wasnt any good at it.
I hope the guy lands on his feet, his bank account sure will. I remember I was sitting in Gates when I read we picked him and Vrabel for a 2nd round. I said niceeee. But it didnt work out and he needs to move on to another city. He is done here. And good luck to him.

Ill respectfully disagree that Cassels time in KC is over. He's most likely out this week and then we have our bye week.

Be careful what you (and I) wish for, Quinn isn't the greatest QB. We are so desperate for anything that gets this team going that we are putting players like Orton and Quinn on a level they have never earned the right to be on.

As bad as it is I still believe Cassel gives us a better chance to win, and that's not a fun place to be.

Yeah, i have been talking trash about him for a couple years now. Hey, i saw it, he is not that good. But seeing how timid he was Sunday, on his throws...it looked like he was so worried his pass would be bad and then it would be...and the team making him handoff 50 unbelievable times, had to be absolutely humiliating. And then to top it off, having to leave the field like that, was tough. I would have to say, that HAD to be one of his worst days ever in his life. I look at it this way. The coaches let him play and upper managemet let him play...so, he played. What is he gonna do? Go sit down on the bench? No, he played and did what he could like he was supposed to. But he wasnt any good at it.
I hope the guy lands on his feet, his bank account sure will. I remember I was sitting in Gates when I read we picked him and Vrabel for a 2nd round. I said niceeee. But it didnt work out and he needs to move on to another city. He is done here. And good luck to him.

Exactly.

He wanted to succeed.

You wanted him to succeed.

I wanted him to succeed.

Most Chiefs fans wanted him to succeed.

Whether the failure is his fault....all the coaching changes or whatever doesn't matter any more.

It was a good ride for his bank account and I am SURE a tough ride for his ego.

But like that REALLY HOT girl 16 years my junior I was seeing a few years ago....it's over now and we all need to move on.

Matt to whoever will hire him.

And us to "Who the hell do we get that can get us a shot at the Superbowl!!!!!"

Ill respectfully disagree that Cassels time in KC is over. He's most likely out this week and then we have our bye week.

Be careful what you (and I) wish for, Quinn isn't the greatest QB. We are so desperate for anything that gets this team going that we are putting players like Orton and Quinn on a level they have never earned the right to be on.

As bad as it is I still believe Cassel gives us a better chance to win, and that's not a fun place to be.

If this turns into Gannon/Grbac 2 imma loose my frickin mind.

I hope you are wrong about Cassel coming back after the bye week. That would be horrible.

I agree that Quinn and Stanzi are PROBABLY not the answer, but Cassel is CERTAINLY not the answer. At this point the only team Cassel can beat on a regular basis is the Chiefs.

Quinn has more experience. Let him play the 6th and 7th game. If he flops then let Stanzi play games 8-16.

Barring a miracle our season is over. Let's use the remaining 11 games to see if we have a decent quarterback on the roster. If we don't, then we know damned well what position we should pick with our first pick in the draft.

Quinn has more experience. Let him play the 6th and 7th game. If he flops then let Stanzi play games 8-16.

Barring a miracle our season is over. Let's use the remaining 11 games to see if we have a decent quarterback on the roster. If we don't, then we know damned well what position we should pick with our first pick in the draft.

I agree with your line of reasoning

But

Everyone has said this team needs a spark to get going and gain confidence on the offensive side of the ball. Right or wrong it looks like the team has rallied around this injury to our starting QB. The more outspoken players have thrown the fan base under the bus, they have another common goal in Matt. I would look for them to come out against the Raiders, at home, with Matt and finally put an offensive game together.

Everyone has said this team needs a spark to get going and gain confidence on the offensive side of the ball. Right or wrong it looks like the team has rallied around this injury to our starting QB. The more outspoken players have thrown the fan base under the bus, they have another common goal in Matt. I would look for them to come out against the Raiders, at home, with Matt and finally put an offensive game together.

I can't argue against your idea here because it deals with the team's "emotion" and emotion is impervious to logic. You are certainly right that if the whole cheering/booing/injury thing really fired the team up to shove it in the fan's face then we could run the table from here out. Stranger things have happened though I can't think of one right now.

But since you are being reasonable (which is a bit uncommon around here these days) IF Cassel does start again.....at what point do you accept that the season is shot and that it is time to give Quinn and Stanzi their shots and start thinking about next year's draft?

I am not being argumentative, but I have moved on from Cassel, accepted in my heart that this season is going to be a bust and am thinking about what we can do to bring our beloved Chiefs the success they and we deserve.

Since you don't seem to be at that point, in your opinion, when is it time for us as fans to give up on Cassel?

If we stick with Cassel and go 4-12, 6-10, 7-9 without giving Quinn and Stanzi a thorough tryout then I think this season will have been a HUGE WASTE.

I'd rather go 2-14 and give both Quinn and Stanzi both a chance to show what they are made of than go 7-9 with Cassel and get no real look at Quinn and Stanzi.

To salvage any part of this season we have to find the real answer to our QB question. Sure if this was a Disney movie something special might happen where Cassel comes back from his injury, we win the superbowl and then he rides Sea Biscuit in the parade.

However, in the real world it would be better off for us to find out what we actually have on the roster. Give Quinn the time to show if he has taken a personal interest in becoming a better player these last two years. I'd say give him more than 2 games to demonstrate this. If he isn't then give the Stanzi the chance.

If none of the QBs on the roster are worthwhile, best to know now and then address it with the high round draft pick we will surely have.

Also, once it becomes mathematically impossible to have any type of ramifications for the playoffs even in the terrible AFC West, they should start resting players and curb their playing time. (Charles, Flowers, Johnson) If this is a throw away season then save the players we need.